Hey all! Hope you have had a wonderfully refreshing summer. Had a little break from publishing #MathsRocks posts but going to get back into it for a bit. Hoping to share some more wonderful Maths ideas at #MathsRocks but we are nothing without your brilliant sharing of ideas. So please share #MathsRocks and hopefully we’ll have some excellent things to share! Share, share, share!

1. Maths Working Wall

To kick off the new school year, we had to share this from @Primary5Teach and I can’t believe we haven’t included this yet!

These are just two examples of her excellent working walls. If each classroom had something like this, then wall space would be used usefully. It would be a good idea to at least look at the sections on these working walls and try and implement some in your learning areas. Nothing more to say really, the visual brilliance of these walls speak for themselves!

2. Resourceaholic

It just shows just how much is out there to make the teaching and learning of Maths that much easier! Here is a website with bundles (literally) of resources to make Maths more visual and engaging! Thanks to @mathsjem for sharing this one from @nikki_nzmartin.

There is actually more resources than the one mentioned from the site – which is called resourcaholic. It is primarily aimed at secondary maths but there are plenty of Primary Maths resources also.

I was given the opportunity to have a copy of a book to read over and see what I thought. I wasn’t really given any details about what the book was, only that it was targeted at Year 2/3. As I am going to be started a new phase of my Teaching Journey in Year 3, I thought it would be a great opportunity.
When this dropped through my letterbox I was instantly hooked:

Aside from the intriguing characters on the front of the book, what also caught my eye was the title. An interesting play on words. So I did what only you would do when something catches your eye in this day and age – I Googled it.

What I found got me even more excited. It turned out that this group were on a new journey themselves and that this book was the first in what I hope will be a fantastic series of these characters travelling the world and bringing us along for the magical ride. However, there was even more to it than that…

This is where WatAdventure stand out from the rest. There are three main characters in this story: Sirius the dour but passionate dog who just wants the best sightseeing possible and Jiblets, the impulsive but lovable monkey who enjoys the thrill of a new adventure. The third main character in this story is Lola, the girl who to whom Sirius and Jiblets belong to as toys before the magic begins. However, she is not just a storybook character…Lola is actually a real person. She won a competition in designing a flag for the Watabus (the three friends transport on this exciting outing) and as she was selected, she won the opportunity to be part of this story. This was fascinating so I looked a little bit more into it – it turned out that WatAdventure produce personalised stories for children which ignite their interest in reading for pleasure. I am looking mainly at ‘WatAdventure in Australia’ but this was a brilliant idea and I’ll already be looking out for future developments at this cutting-edge publisher.

Back to Australia…

Illustration

I decided to read this to my two children – 5 and 3 years old. One is about to go into Year 2 so this was perfect. The first reaction I got when opening the cover was ‘Wowwww…’ – such is the quality of the illustration. I share an image from the WatAdventure Gallery below – there are plenty more at this site https://www.watadventure.com/gallery:

The fact is that reading the story alone was captivating enough. In reality, we could have spent hours poring over the finer details of this book. We could have spent ten or more minutes pointing out the gadgetry wizardry in the Watabus, the thriving life in the Australian bush, the fascinating schools in the Great Barrier Reef or the bustling Bondi Beach. They say don’t judge a book by its cover – in this case you should make an exception.

Story

If the illustrations weren’t enough to grab the readers interest, then the writing of this story will. I read this to my children with delight. The flow of the narrative was exquisite. As I read, there was a rhythm to the words and the vocabulary used was outstanding. My wife actually commented on the words used and how much it stretched our children. With a storyteller, there is nothing wrong with this – in fact I say it should be encouraged. The vocabulary was thoughtfully selected enough to push the children but be accessible enough to keep the flow going. A real highlight.

Characters

I loved the characters. Sirius and Jiblets were the standouts and I presume this was because they will be the focus of the series. From the first page in which they came to life, their character style was instantly recognisable. Jiblets would be the fun-loving companion whilst Sirius would be the ever-suffering, self-appointed tour guide. It made for great reading.

And if that wasn’t enough…

As the story closed, I was fully satisfied as a parent reading this book to my children. They were silent and captivated (a good sign!) and looked forward to closely looking at the illustrations and my 5 year old wanted to read it himself. But then we turned the final page…

An explosion on non-fictional information and great puzzles for the kids to look back over the pages of the book and search. This sold it for me. The re-readability of this book as the children go back over the story’s events and see where in Australia they took place make this a brilliant addition to any child’s bookshelf – I’d say certainly up to Year 4.

For Teachers

But the brilliance of this story doesn’t stop there. With each purchase of the book (which is a price that is certainly not extortionate) there comes with it:

Guided Reading questions

3 comprehension lessons

5 writing lessons

For a year group maybe looking at Aboriginal culture this would be an incredible addition to their curriculum.

I’m not being asked to sell this resource, but I know I’ll certainly be looking into this for our curriculum!

Develop your behaviour management techniques, don’t take on any areas of responsibility in your first year and write a reflective journal at the end of every week…these are just some of the things that NQTs are advised when they are about to embark on their first, exciting but daunting year of teaching. There are always figures appearing in the news about the poor retention of teaching staff – so it is important that these precious new additions to the teaching ranks are supported and given relevant, vital information that will help them navigate the new challenges that will come their way. However, there are other pieces of advice that you don’t find in the ITT environment. Valuable nuggets which are missing in the guide for newly qualified teachers. These really important pieces of advice were sought for on Twitter and wow was there a response! I wanted to gather all the great thoughts and post them here but because of the sheer volume of them I will attempt to group them.

NQTs – read them and take them on board. It will make much of the next year more manageable. Those who are not NQTs – some of these may be useful for you to know as well and if you have any more, please share in the comments here or to @Mroberts90Matt.

The Lessons1 bad lesson will not ruin a child’s education – learn from those lessons. – @MrDSelby
Get in early and get your photocopying done. – @Mr_B_WStore photocopying like this – @lesleyclarke84:

If planning on marking a class set of one piece of work (e.g. an essay/assessment) get students to complete on paper – seems less onerous to mark and easier to carry around. – ‏@MrDGrogan
When you’ve had a bad day follow up with stickers. Lots of stickers. Children will do anything for a sticker! – @BLJSMrsH
Do fun projects. Make literacy and maths live. You’ll enjoy your lessons too then! – @WriteGang
Kill with kindness. Anyone who says ‘Don’t smile till Christmas’ is not worth listening to. – @BeechDeputyHeadNever leave photocopying until the day it’s needed… – @LPLFlippedEng1. Don’t try to talk/teach over children talking/fiddling in your class, get them to finish before you start. 2.Lots of positivity. Encourage and awards the things you want to see rather than focusing on what you don’t want. – @ritchie_lloyd
Talk less. Read and listen more. Smile the most. – @BinksNeateEvans

The Classroom

If you’re in UKS2, buy plug in air fresheners. – @MrBoothY6
Change your tables around now and again – can feel like a new classroom! – @MrDSelby
Teach a lesson on how to reapply glue stick tops. – ‏@Moggy14
Stash some glue, pencils, rubbers and sharpners as soon as they come in and hide them until at least spring. – @MrsKnjH
Keep old glue stick / whiteboard pen lids for when others get lost. – @f33lthesun
Have a PAT tested rechargeable hand held vacuum ready to go. Children will love using it to finish tidying the classroom at the end of the day and the cleaners will love you too! – @educationdj
Don’t leave permanent markers near your whiteboard and if the worst does happen go over it with whiteboard marker (cover all of it!!) and then rub it off! – @JennyHolderLiv
Oh, hide your blu tac, the kids will find it and will use it. As chewing gum, fiddle toy, sticking in places…I found the phonics planning folder a good place – ‏@mrsFNQT

Carry hand sanitiser…at all times. – @ModernCassie
Set yourself a time to finish, i.e. Eight. Stick to it rigidly – if it’s not done by then, it’s not getting done today. Your brain will thank you for it. – @RachieBry
Make it your mission to do all your work at school. Home is for family and relaxing. If it doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done. – @Y3NQT
Drink loads of water – know it’s sounds weird but half the time I’m tired as I haven’t drank enough – @MissWells2010
Drink wine often… – @TamzinWood1Keep your hobbies going and preserve time for what you love doing outside teaching – you will teach better if you look after yourself and keep doing what makes you you – @AlisonHopper68

The ColleaguesGet to know cleaning / site / kitchen staff – be kind to them and they may forgive the day you glitter the floor. – @Elsie2110

Never mention to anybody that you have whiteboard pens! – @MissJames_Y6
Also don’t ever give anyone any of your laminating pouches or handwriting pens – ‏@NickyGNickster
Bring cake. A lot of cake. @ruralSBM
Give yourself time to learn and don’t compare yourself to that teacher who’s been in the same year group and classroom for five years. Do the essentials first. – @ReflectivelouNever photocopy 30 booklets at 8am. It will never be forgotten! – @Specialrules1

The Wider LifeRead children’s books. It’s a win win situ – you can talk to your class about books they’d enjoy and encourage wider reading and children’s lit at the moment is so so so good. – @Sarah_Tai
Write it down. You won’t remember it. No, not even between the staffroom and the classroom. – @M87Claire
Get a book with a page for each child, write down good stuff they have done, things they have said etc just 1 or 2 a day (per class not child!) at a time then come parents evening, comments and June reports are virtually done! – @mrsFNQT
Take time at the end of each day to think about what went well. This will keep you positive whilst developing your practice. Once a week, leave early and do something for yourself without feeling guilty. – @Jhall3HallKeep a journal, every week write down what you did. It mart take an hour but it helps put everything into perspective – @GeorgeBowles88You will never finish your ‘to do’ list. Get over it. – @Y3NQT
Enjoy it! You’ve worked hard to be an NQT. Enjoy the job but remember it’s OK to ask for help, it’s not a sign of weakness but a want to improve – @MrsSetto
Label all your belongings! Things just seem to walk off! – @EmmaAdams20

Take on board this advice from experienced colleagues NQTs, and join #PrimaryRocks every Monday at 8pm! You will have the most challenging but most exhilarating year so far!

It’s the holidays!! Hope you all have a nice, relaxing break planned – or nothing planned at all! Either way, read on for some relaxing Maths ideas which will engage your learners and make Maths rock!

1. Classic Top Trumps – F/D/P

Last time, we shared a great entry by @misslkfidler where the children learnt about fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents using the game ‘Go Fish’. This week, another way to practise and learn essential maths facts, like these equivalences. Top Trumps is a classroom classic and this twist on the Top Trumps with fractions, decimals and percentages is a great idea!

Conversion of metric units can cause great confusion. Some sort of visual support initially will support learning in the class. Of course they will not be able to use these beyond the classroom but any amount of support and visualisation will help.

That’s your lot for this week! Have a wonderful break and good luck for Summer 2!

Hope all of you are enjoying another exciting week. Of course, for those Year 6 teachers of us you will be having a ‘testing’ week but I’m hoping your first day at the SATs with the children has been a positive experience! Enjoy losing yourself in the wonderful Maths ideas and problems!

1. Which One Doesn’t Belong?

Want a reasoning resource with a difference? http://wodb.ca/ gives you that!
There is a big push towards developing children’s reasoning, including giving problems that have been solved slightly incorrectly and you have to find the error. Well, this website is different. It presents different sets of numbers, shapes and other objects. Children are required to select one of the options and reason why that one doesn’t belong. Simple right 🙂 but effective. Thank you to @Mister_Hubbard for sharing!

2. “Go Fish!”

I loved this idea by @misslkfidler. Great idea to use for fraction/decimal/percentage equivalence but this could work for a number of concepts also – such as ratios, types of shapes and so on. Here’s the picture…

3. Maths Starter for a Day

@7puzzle shared this idea which was brought to #MathsRocks attention by @MrBramley25. One day this can be a quick problem to get brains into gear:

Your task is to arrive at the target answer of 18 by using each of the four numbers 2, 6, 7, and 10 exactly once each and with + – × ÷ available.

Another great idea from this share is where you use the digits in the date (such as 1, 4, 0, 5, 2, 0, 1 and 8 from today) and try to get the closest to 100 using the four operations.

Enjoy the rest of your week – share on #MathsRocks, and good luch for the rest of this SATs week.!

So, workload. It’s been shown to be quite high on the agenda by the DfE, Ofsted, Parliament and so on. Among the problem areas – marking has been highlighted. I previously posted a blog about whole class feedback which significantly cut back on the amount I was writing in children’s books and increased the engagement with the feedback. Find it here.

I have been using the method in the blog now for almost four years and would recommend it to anyone. What I have found is hours of freed up time to use to plan more quality interventions and next steps with the feedback I give to the children.

However, I have found something which may be even quicker (at least, in the week I have begun trialling it, when it used to take 20mins-30mins to mark a set of Maths books it now takes ~10-mins-15mins! To be honest, this web page explains it very well so I will leave it to do most of the explaining as I am considering my work-life balance 😉

It is well worth considering though – once again, my time has been freed even more and I have found (initially anyway) to have a much bigger impact on the children’s understanding through more regular, consistent verbal feedback. There have been a number of moments working with specific targeted children where they have had ‘a-ha’ moments because of the way this feedback approach enables the class to be moved forward with minimal effort from the teacher so they can plan an effective feedback time at the start of the next lesson.

Here we are a couple of weeks into the new term! Hope all is going well! You have a wonderful Bank Holiday to look forward to next week also so it is all looking rosy :). Now, here is your regular dose of #MathsRocks ideas and problems to try out in the classroom.

1. Maths Bags for Home

This idea hits home (quite literally) for me. I have a 5 year old son and he is struggling with his Maths. One of the problems we have as a young family with two young children is finding the time to gather (and keep together) quality resources. @nurserycrookfur have shared a great Maths set that they send home which was shared by @CrookfurPC.

This is just one example of a great idea which I’m sure many schools are doing but it’s a classic worth sharing. In Year 6 we do something similar but with more appropriate material – revision packs, times tables…some homes may not use them but I’m sure many would appreciate it.

2. More CPA examples

Another great share by @crisp_aholic. The concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) is very much a focus now in general maths education, particularly those with a mastery approach. As such, it is always great to see practical ideas, like this one:

One great suggestion with this idea is asking children to come and draw their own examples and there you have fantastic discussion potential just from that exercise.

3. Dojo Problem

And finally, as we like on #MathsRocks, a little problem for you to try. Many of you will have heard of @classdojo and they make an appearance with this great problem shared by @busyteacher247. Not much explanation is needed – just have a go and share it with your class:

Have a great couple of weeks! Don’t forget to share your Maths ideas and suggestions on the #MathsRocks hashtag!

Oh and finally, we couldn’t let this one go without a mention by @Miss_B35, shared by @crisp_aholic…

Hello all!! Here it is again – your fortnightly boost of Maths teaching ideas and suggestions! Everyone will be back at school by now – hope Summer 1 has had an excellent start! Here is this week’s ideas:

1. Food Maths!

I love food! I love Maths. Check out this wonderful idea by @J0H00K and shared by @Mister_Hubbard:

Maths is everywhere around us. The children sometimes do not recognise this and just how much Maths has an impact on them – even the food they eat! It would be great to see any more Food Arrays or just #FoodMaths in general that you see. Here is mine:

2. KS2 teaching Early Years

A great entry from @grove_road was shared. They had a #mathsrocks day!! Exciting or what!?? Would love to hear what else they did that day! Anyway, they shared a wonderful idea where their KS2 children went to the Early Years to support the younger children in creating brilliant number lines.

What I love about the idea of older children teaching others is their depth of understanding MUST be on point. Some training will be required but when they then go to try and teach others with a weaker knowledge they will inevitably be asked questions – and they will need to answer. However, they will quickly learn they have to be clear with their explanations…

3. The Golden Cube Problem

We like to finish with a problem for you to try in the classroom. This one, shared by @Mroberts90Matt, is aimed mainly at Year 6’s who are grasping the concept of volume. This gets them to think about the number of cubes in each layer, the actual volume and a practical context where the deconstruct a 3D object. That’s enough from me – have a go yourself!

We hope you find at least one of these ideas or challenges useful – try them out! Even better, if you have another idea you have tried in your classroom, please share with the #MathsRocks hashtag so others can benefit!

It’s Easter Break! What a great time to find out some more Maths ideas and creative resources to get ready for Spring 2! Read on for some excellent, innovative things to try in your classroom!

1. Academy Enterprise Trust (AET) Schemes of Learning

A few people worked together in discussion to bring this to #MathsRocks attention. @LeanneShawAHS asked the question of what resources are out there to support her very weak Year 7 group in Maths – working at KS1 ability. @SchoolLeader3 directed a response towards @AETmaths who have produced a very meaty, detailed set of Maths plans and discussion points. This collection of schemes of work are extremely useful! There is a lot to digest which will enhance your Mathematics teaching. I think it can sometimes be a little TOO much to follow and would use it in conjunction with another scheme, such as White Rose, but this would be an invaluable resource to use.
Let us know what you think – see the link here: https://sites.google.com/aetinet.org/curriculum/home-toolkit/curriculum?authuser=0

2. NCETM Primary Mastery PD Materials

The NCETM have been developing a collection of PD materials to support teachers in delivering a mastery curriculum. They are currently up to having completed Year 1 and part of Year 2 for ‘Number, Addition and Subtraction’ and that has taken since September 2017 so it will take some time to complete. However, they are excellent to share with teachers teaching any part of the Maths Curriculum. There are videos, presentations and pdfs to break down each point so each practitioner should come away enabled to teach fundamental concepts more confidently and efficiently. The link is here: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/50640

3. Goldbach’s Conjecture

@inspiringmaths shared this great problem for your class to discuss.

Credit goes to @MrBramley25 for sharing this with #MathsRocks. And now you get to try it! Share it with your class and see what discussions ensue!

A tweet this week (and every practice paper we attempt in Year 6) remind me of a well-known, frustrating and exasperating conundrum all Year 6 teachers face often.

READ THE QUESTION!!

I seem to spout the same sentence individually, in a group and in whole class discussion every week. I have even said it and heard it said in a couple of staff meetings. I have also muttered it to myself when I have made the same mistake. It seems this pandemic is a global problem, no matter the ability, progress, cultural background or age of the person. But why does this happen.

The Documented Problem of Reading the Question

‘Underline key words’

It is a researched fact that in exams and tests one of the biggest issues that occurs is that students, from primary all the way up to university level, often trip with reading the actual question.

When revising, students often rehearse answers in their head. says Roy Jackson, course leader in religion, philosophy and ethics at the University of Gloucestershire. “Although we don’t deliberately intend to catch them out in exams, we do set questions that requires them to think and reflect under timed conditions. But instead students will often pick up key words in the question and write out a rehearsed response.”

In education we are obsessed with key vocabulary, and rightly so. Learning, understanding and categorising key language can underpin a lot of key concepts and skills in many, if not all, subject areas. Angle, adjective, hypothesis, artery, evidence, source, hemisphere, continent, analyse, evaluate, strokes, pivot, endurance…we throw all sorts of weird and frankly wonderful words at out learners to assist them in becoming more proficient in each of these subject areas. The grasp of key words is important in this endeavour. However, this fascination over key language seems to permeate into exam ‘practice’. This may help…but is it also a hindrance?

Many primary and Maths teachers will be aware of the acronym ‘RUCSAC’. I’m calling it out. I know many others have cast this aside for many reason, however I’m accusing this seemingly helpful skill of causing more problems in actually understanding the question.

I’ve seen the ‘U’ stand for one of two things – Understand or Underline. Understand: if I could get children to understand questions by just telling them to ‘Understand’ I would make a fortune. ‘Underline’ seems a bit more helpful but even this can cause problems…

Take this question for example: ‘I am going to share 3 boxes of chocolates between 5 friends. There are 30 chocolates in each box. How many chocolates are there to share?’ On the surface a very straightforward question.

However, as we know in Year 2, 6 and other high-stakes exam years, a lot of time is spent practising tests. If a child is trained to ‘underline’ key vocabulary and use THAT to identify the next stage (C – Choose operation) then they may misread the question. The higher attainers and rapid graspers (whatever phrase you’re using these days) will contextualise the problem and realise they need to multiply 3 by 30. However, the lower attainers and some middle attainers who are clinging on, will follow the strategy as they have been taught and identify one word – ‘share’. Now, all the followers of the RUCSAC strategy will know ‘share’ means one thing – divide. If children are taught to look for key words and phrases and to follow a strict guideline of how to solve, they will become stuck. They haven’t read the question properly and make the mistake.

Short-term Reliance

The ‘cramming before examming’ culture in academic exam years is also geared toward short-term memory. Scientific American says:

“Memories like what you had for dinner are stored in visual short-term memory—particularly, in a kind of short-term memory often called “visual working memory.” Visual working memory is where visual images are temporarily stored while your mind works away at other tasks—like a whiteboard on which things are briefly written and then wiped away.”

We teach children mnemonics, quick tricks and rehearsed answers to help them gain procedural understanding. However, in teaching this way, whilst we may gain lots of marks on some papers, that understanding is extremely limited. Conceptual understanding, the kind of understanding that enables children to see the bigger picture of a question, is lacking. This means they will read a question and struggle to contextualise it. No wonder they don’t ‘read the question properly’! They can read it but their short-term memory is trained to look for the procedure to answer the question.

Take 1/3 x 5/7. Every child in my Year 6 class would tell you the answer is 5/21. What does that ACUTALLY mean?

However, give them this question: “3/4 of a pan of brownies was sitting on the counter. You decided to eat 1/3 of the brownies in the pan. How much of the whole pan of brownies did you eat?” and see the confusion settle in…

And we wonder after a solid couple of terms on this method at least why there are drops in progress or attainment in Year 3 and 7…

The Solution?

A solution is worth searching for. Children may lose marks and not attain their potential not through a lack of understanding but just simply not having processed the question, or even their own working carefully. I have seen a child not achieve a Level 5 and then in later years miss out on Expected by one mark, both because they added decimals perfectly in their working but then forgot to include the decimal in their answer!!

Unfortunately I have no better solution to this problem of reading the question properly other than quality first teaching (or whatever phrase you use for that). I am also a hypocrite wilst saying this. Whilst I am now trying to help children understand the concept properly first more so now before showing them the ‘trick’ – I am still reverting back to little tips and tricks as we get ever closer to the SATs.

One thing I have done though which does open the children’s eyes a little bit to tackling this issue is this document which I found a few years ago which I share with you. Try it yourself…just read the question carefully 😉 (Answer at the bottom of the page so…spoilers down there if you want to try it yourself)!

It’s best if you get all children to promise to only say what they have to from the sheet, no helping or speaking to each other…

If you haven’t gathered, the children who read the sheet correctly will end up watching their classmates with smugness complete the ridiculous list of 19 or so challenges on this sheet until they realise they mistake at the end. Everyone else will look daft and you will have to control your desire to chuckle as one by one they say their name and eventually stand up and declare proudly ‘I HAVE FINISHED’…and then look in shock at the final sentences. Hopefully the ones who are fooled will look slyly at you at the end and keep quiet and enjoy watching the rest of their classmates fall into the same trap.

In three years of teaching Year 6…no one has completed it properly…let me know how it goes with you. DM me @Mroberts90Matt if you want this sheet on a Word document.